


Clash

by Inell



Series: Two Men and a Motorbike [27]
Category: Star Trek (2009)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-02
Updated: 2012-06-02
Packaged: 2017-11-06 15:35:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/420451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inell/pseuds/Inell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jim and Bones talk after the impromptu celebration in the canteen</p>
            </blockquote>





	Clash

The celebration lasts nearly two hours. By the time people start to leave, Jim has met and spoken to every single person there. He makes it a point to do so, as well as to ask them questions so that he knows something about them. They’re his crew now, which makes them family, in a way. When everyone’s on the ship, he’ll meet the rest of the crew, and he’ll remember the random facts he’s learned about them because that’s part of being captain. The reality of it is that he’s responsible for them all, for keeping them alive and safe, and, if he fails, he wants to ensure that he never forgets.

There aren’t many people left now, so he figures it’s alright if he sneaks away. Bones is probably still sitting alone at a table in the corner drinking coffee. Jim’s been keeping an eye on him since he started making the rounds to meet everyone, not that he really knows why. Maybe there’s a slight fear that Bones will just disappear or maybe he just knows that Bones doesn’t usually enjoy crowded shit like this. When he turns, he sees that Bones hasn’t moved. He’s looking out the window and the expression on his face mirrors how Jim feels inside.

When he notices Bones’ shoulder tense, he figures that he’s been caught staring. Instead of looking at him, Bones keeps gazing out the window and tapping his fingers on the table. At that moment, Jim knows that he’d give almost anything if Bones would look at him and smirk, maybe arch his brow knowingly. That isn’t gonna happen, though. Not today. Maybe not ever again. Jim curls his fingers up, digging his blunt nails into his palm as he pushes those thoughts away.

He walks over to the table and sits down across from Bones. Now that he’s here, he can’t think of what to say, so he reaches for the half-full cup of coffee and takes a drink. “Damn, this is cold,” he says, making a face as he puts the cup back down.

“If you’d asked instead of just taking, I’d have told you,” Bones says, finally turning his attention to Jim. “Finished making the rounds?”

“Yeah. People are gone and all. This was nice, a good way to celebrate.” He smiles and reaches for the shaker of salt. “Not exactly what I had in mind for celebrating, but it’s good to meet all the crew.” He tilts the shaker and makes a pile of salt before setting it back down. “There are a lot of names and random facts in my head. Good thing my memory is really strong.”

“You’re making a mess, Jim,” Bones points out as Jim uses his index finger to spread out the salt crystals on the table. “You’re fortunate that there’s enough space in your head that it won’t be in danger of getting full.”

“Very funny, Bones.” He smiles slightly and nudges his leg under the table. “I know that you think I’m brilliant.”

“And modest,” Bones adds dryly. He glances at the table where Jim’s still restlessly playing with salt. “If you’re finished doing your captainly duty, we can leave now.”

“Is captainly a word?” Jim muses as he swipes the salt off the table and into his hand. He tosses it over his shoulder before he stands up. “Let’s go.”

“If it’s not, it should be.” Bones shrugs a shoulder as he gets to his feet. “I figure they’ll end up creating a lot of words to describe you as captain, so I’ll just start it off.”

“I don’t know about that. Dashing, skilled, handsome, and awe-inspiring are already words.” Jim waves at the remaining crew members sitting around the canteen having lunch before he and Bones step outside.

“Did I mention modest already?” Bones snorts and shakes his head as they walk to where Jess is parked.

“Possibly.” Jim looks at Bones standing next to Jess and feels that tightening weight in his belly again. “You drive.”

Bones blinks and arches a brow. “Really?”

He nods and hands Bones the keys. “I think Jess would like it.”

Bones looks like he’s going to say something, but he finally turns and straddles the bike without speaking. Jim gets on behind him and rests his cheek against Bones’ back as they drive to the dorms. He holds on tight, closing his eyes as he memorizes everything about this moment, from the feel of Bones to how he smells to the sound of the engine purring as they drive.

“We’re there,” Bones says softly after he parks.

“I don’t want to let go,” Jim whispers. He tightens his grip and doesn’t care if he sounds weak and useless. Tomorrow is graduation, and Bones is leaving him. Not by choice, sure, but that doesn’t matter. He’ll still be gone, and Jim’s going to be alone again.

Bones sighs. “I know, Jim, but you have to.” 

“Right.” Jim lets out a shaky breath before he slides off Jess. He drags his hands over his face forces a smile. “Want to go inside and open that bottle of whiskey? I’d hate to let it go to waste.”

“I doubt it goes to waste,” Bones says as he starts walking towards the entrance to the dorms.

Jim follows behind him but doesn’t say anything. Everything is mixed up in his head right now, so it’s better if he’s quiet. His general rambling is likely to make this more awkward. When they enter Bones’ room, he puts the bottle on the table and reaches up to begin unbuttoning his uniform shirt.

“I’m really proud of you,” Bones says after the door shuts. Jim stops unbuttoning and looks over at him. “You’re going to be fantastic.”

“I’ll be good, but it’s going to be tough ever being great without you there,” Jim admits. He worries his bottom lip, sucking on it gently as he watches Bones. “Did you know?”

Bones kicks off his shoes and his shoulders slump, which is enough of an answer. He walks over to the table and gets two glasses. “We’ll have to thank Scotty for this,” he says as he opens the bottle.

“Damn it, Bones. Talk to me. I think you owe me that much,” Jim says, feeling his temper starting to rise. “How long have you known? Why the fuck didn’t you tell me?”

“I don’t owe you anything, kid,” Bones snaps. He looks up and flinches. “Sorry. That was--I didn’t mean it.”

Jim taps his foot and frowns. “How long, Bones?”

“Since yesterday.” Bones looks down and fills two glasses with whiskey. “I went to speak to Barnett, before I ran into Gaila.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Jim sits on the side of the bed and slouches forward. “I was so happy, when I realized I was keeping Enterprise, and then…you weren’t there. Your name wasn’t in the list of files, and it felt like all the joy had just been sucked out of the room.”

The glass of whiskey is thrust into his hand before Bones sits in a chair. “I didn’t want to make it real,” Bones confesses softly. “If I didn’t talk about it, there was still hope. We had two more days, and now, fuck. It’s like there’s nothing left except the ache.”

“I can talk to Pike,” Jim says, turning the glass around in his hands as he looks at Bones. “He’s an admiral now and a hero, too, so maybe he can help.”

“It’s complicated. Pike can’t do anything.” Bones takes a gulp of his whiskey and grimaces.

“How do you know? Goddamn, Bones, I know you don’t like him much, but we can at least try.” He takes a drink of the whiskey and can understand why Bones made a face. It’s strong and tastes like fuel.

“I know because it’s my choice!” Bones puts the glass on the table and tugs at his hair. “I agreed to it, Jim.”

Jim shakes his head. “No. You’re lying. You want to be CMO on the Enterprise.”

“I’m not lying. Never to you,” Bones says quietly. “I was given options, and I had to choose.”

“You asshole.” Jim is on his feet before he can stop himself. He swings at Bones, catching him on the cheek hard with his fist. “You fucking coward. Running from me? Is that what this is?”

Bones catches his fist before he can hit a second time, moving to his feet and twisting their bodies. “Feel better now, Jim? Can’t deal with something so you have to either fight it or fuck it?” Bones growls as he shoves Jim to the bed. “I thought you’d changed, _Captain_.”

“Get off me, Bones.” He bucks up and wiggles and kicks his legs as much as he can with a heavy weight pushing into the mattress.

“Not until you listen,” Bones hisses against his ear. “Do you know how utterly fucked I am? I’m a doctor, Jim, not a hero captain. Barnett said they planned to assign me to another ship for _five_ years. Requests based on seniority and a bunch of political bullshit that doesn’t even matter.”

Jim keeps fighting because it makes him feel something other than fear and this complete numbness that seems to be taking over. “Let me up.”

Bones just presses him down even harder. “I researched it the other night, about ranks and the stupid games they like to play, and I was able to use that, use the ridiculous Lieutenant-Commander title, to make a deal. I _hate_ playing those games, but I did it because of you, you ungrateful bastard.”

“Did what?” Jim asks, curious despite his anger. He hasn’t known of Bones ever using the rank and title during all their years at Starfleet, save for his pulling it out to prove his senior medical status to get Jim onto Enterprise. He has to stay angry, though, because it’s better than sadness and fear.

“A year wherever I get sent, doing whatever they tell me, and then I can request a transfer. I can apply for Enterprise, if you still want me.” Bones frustrated tone fades by the time he finishes speaking. The weight pressing down on Jim is gone, and he turns his head to see Bones staring at the wall.

“A year?” he whispers as he sits up. He wipes the back of his hand across his mouth and tries not to stare at the mark he left on Bones’ face.

“It’s the best I could do,” Bones murmurs. “I didn’t even know if you’d be captain, if they’d accept your conditions, but I had to do something. One year sounded better than five.”

Jim can’t argue that logic, but he’s still irritated. “Why did you make a deal, damn it? We might have been able to do something about it. I know people!”

“Yeah, that’s why you’ve been worried for the last two days that you might have to resign in order to keep your principles.” Bones shifts so that he’s sitting up and moves his hands to the back of his neck as he leans forward. “I made a deal because I had faith that you’d get your way, and the idea of not being able to work with you was unbearable. It wasn’t even personal, though I know that’s a part of it.”

“It’s hard to be mad at you when you’re saying shit like that,” he grumbles as he sits up. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Bones laughs dryly. “When? In between my confession about my father and your fears about your own position? No, I couldn’t have said anything. Besides, like I already told you, I didn’t have to accept that it was real if I didn’t talk about it.”

“It’s real now.” He feels the anger start to fade and reaches over to touch Bones’ shoulder. “Where are you going?”

“I don’t know yet. I’ll find out tomorrow.” Bones lowers his hands and looks at Jim. “Barnett says that there’s a good chance I’ll be sent out this weekend.”

Jim closes his eyes and feels sick. “This weekend?” he repeats slowly. God. It’s too soon. He can’t lose Bones, not already. When he opens his eyes, he reaches out to touch the mark his fist left on Bones’ face. “Why are we wasting time fighting then?”

Bones snorts. “Because that’s just us?” He turns his head towards Jim’s palm.

“A year isn’t so bad, is it?” Jim brushes his thumb over Bones’ lips. It sounds like a terrible amount of time, especially when he nearly drove himself crazy not seeing Bones for the week they were fighting, but he has to hold on to _something_. “We can still see each other and there’s always shore leave if we can arrange it at the same time.”

“Everything can change in a year, Jim. Hell, look how much has changed in just the last six weeks.” Bones licks the tip of Jim’s thumb, and Jim can’t look away from him. “No regrets, right?”

“Stop it, Bones,” he says firmly. “Stop talking like whatever this is between us is just going to end because we’re assigned to different places. It means more than that to me, and I know it means more to you, too.”

“It doesn’t matter what it means because I know how this works. I lost my wife because I was working long hours and hardly around,” Bones points out. “Do you really think everything’s just going to be the same even if we’re separated for an entire year?”

Jim frowns. “You don’t trust me, do you? You think I’ll just start fucking anyone convenient, like this, like _you_ , aren’t important to me.”

“Damn it, Jim.” Bones reaches over and grips the back of his neck. “I _do_ trust you, but neither of us knows what might happen during a year. Fuck, we don’t even know what’ll happen next week.”

“If you trust me, then it doesn’t matter,” he says, wishing it was that easy. He knows it isn’t, but he wants to believe it is, if only for one more night. He leans forward and kisses Bones, making a frustrated groan when Bones doesn’t respond. He licks at his lips, nibbling and sucking until Bones growls and kisses him hard. It’s almost desperate, or maybe it is completely is, not that Jim cares. He feels it, too.

He hears the clunk of his glass as it falls to the floor, not caring that he’s spilled whiskey because Bones is kissing him. A year without this is unimaginable. He pulls Bones down to the mattress, fumbling with buttons as he tries to get to bare skin. “Damn uniform,” Bones mutters as he works on Jim’s buttons. He reaches up to try to help, but his hands are slapped away. “Can do it myself, kid.”

“Okay.” Jim doesn’t care who does it so long as they get naked. He moves his hands down Bones’ back, gripping his ass and squeezing as he pushes up against him. “Just hurry.”

“Impatient brat.” Bones licks at his neck, biting hard as he finally finishes with the damn buttons. Jim arches his back and wiggles out of the uniform shirt, which is promptly thrown on the other side of the bed. His undershirt is next and then Bones is licking his collarbone while pushing his hand into Jim’s shorts.

“Naked. Want to be naked,” he insists. He wants to feel Bones against him, to feel the smooth-rough of his skin, to just _feel_. He pushes Bones off of him and stands up long enough to get out of his pants and boxers. The puddle of whiskey is warm and wet against his socks, so he pulls those off, too. Once he’s naked, he looks at Bones, who has removed his shirt and is in the process of removing his pants. “Let me.”

Bones moves his hands and watches as Jim unfastens his pants and pulls them off his long legs. Jim doesn’t bother teasing. Not right now. They have all night for that, since he knows that he won’t let Bones out of bed, not with tomorrow getting closer and closer with every passing minute. The thought makes him close his eyes, fighting the emotions that he doesn’t understand, or maybe he does but doesn’t want to because it hurts enough when ignoring them. When he opens his eyes, Bones is staring at him.

Jim licks his lips and pounces, kissing Bones thoroughly as he grinds against him. “No thinking about tomorrow,” he warns in a harsh whisper. “I’m so damn tired of thinking.”

“Then stop doing it,” Bones growls before flipping them over. He sucks on Jim’s tongue and moves his hand down his ribs, stroking the ticklish spot that makes Jim jerk away and laugh into the kiss. Bones does it again as he rolls his hips forward. Jim bends his leg and wraps it around Bones’ calf, thrusting up so that their cocks slide against each other.

“Make me stop. Please, Bones.” He knows that he’s begging, but he needs to forget everything except this, except Bones and the way it feels doing this with him. Bones pulls back and stares down at him, looks at him with desperate need and hunger, and he knows that Bones wants to stop thinking, too. When they kiss, it’s rough and almost violent. Tongues and teeth and biting and sucking until his lips are swollen and sore. Their hands are moving everywhere, caressing and squeezing and stroking and bruising every bare inch of skin they can reach.

Bones bites his neck, marking him several places, sucking the skin until it tingles and then biting down. He scratches, marking Bones’ back and biting his shoulder as they grind together. _Can’t let go. Never let go._ He bites harder, rocking his hips into Bones, panting against sweat-slick skin as Bones grips his ass and pulls him closer, changing the angle of their movements.

“That’s it, Jim. Come for me,” Bones drawls, dragging his fingers along Jim’s asshole and teasing without pushing inside. Jim shifts, needing more friction against his cock, and he whimpers when Bones licks his nipple, sucking it and flicking it with his tongue. Bones moves his hand off Jim’s ass and slides it between them, longer fingers wrapping around Jim’s cock and stroking firmly. It’s too much.

“Bones, damn it,” Jim moans as he feels his orgasm hits. He wants it to last, to escape with Bones even if it’s just for tonight, and now he’s already coming, spilling all over Bones’ hand and their cocks and bellies. Bones is still hard, his erection throbbing as he grinds it into Jim.

“So fucking beautiful when you come.” Bones’ voice is low and husky and Jim doesn’t want to think about not being able to hear it every day. He reaches between them, coating his fingers with his come, and moves his hand behind Bones, gripping his ass and teasing his hole as they rock together. Bones whines low in his throat when Jim begins to slowly press a wet finger inside him.

“Your turn, Bones,” he whispers as he carefully works his finger inside. Bones kisses him, clenching around his finger and pushing Jim more firmly against the bed. He can feel the tension in Bones’ body, can hear him panting against his lips, can see his face flushed and twisted with please right before he shudders. Semen splashes between them, dripping onto Jim’s stomach and cock as Bones keeps rocking his hips.

When Bones settles against him, they continue kissing and Jim strokes his back, up and down in a soothing manner. He pulls his finger out of Bones and wipes his sticky hand on the blanket before he moves his fingers into Bones’ hair and deepens the kiss. It’ll take them both a little time to recover, and kissing Bones has become one of his favorite things to do, so he’s going to take advantage of the opportunity.

He knows that they really are on a schedule now. It’s no longer a ‘what if’ or a vague possibility; it’s a fact. Even worse, Bones said Barnett warned him that he’d probably leave this weekend. That most likely means Sunday, since graduation and everything is tomorrow. It’s like this countdown that’s been in his head all week is going faster now, reminding him that he’s lost Bones, even if he’s gained the Enterprise, and it’s just so fucking unfair that he wants to go out and fight until there’s no energy left.

Fighting isn’t going to fix anything, though. Neither is spending the weekend worrying about something that they can’t change. It’s easy to tell himself not to worry, but he doubts it’s going to be that easy to do. He can try, if only so that Bones won’t listen to those annoying voices in his head that will attempt to talk himself out of _them_. There’s no way that one or two nights can compare to a year, but Jim’s going to do his damnedest to make sure that they enjoy every minute they have together.

End


End file.
